Bottle-box.



B. H. N. GLARKSON.

BOTTLE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APILZ, 1914. 1, 1 20,283.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

HUHHHHH" YHE NORRIS PETERS 1:0

STATES PATEN UFFTCE.

EDWARD H. N. CLARKSON, 0F HAMILTON, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TOFLYNN & EMRICH COMPANY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OFMARYLAND.

BOTTLE-BOX.

Application filed April 2, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Eowann H. N. CLARK- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Hamilton, county of Baltimore, State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBottle-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a wooden or similar box or crate for bottles,jars and the like. These boxes are arranged to receive each a dozen ortwo dozen bottles or more, and are provided with partitions by which thebottles are separated and supported in upright position. The partitionsare formed of wooden strips extending from wall to wall at right anglesto each other, dividing the box into a number of cells or chamberscorresponding to the number of bottles the box is to hold. The box wallsare notched to receive the ends of the partitions, and it is to theconstruction of the box Walls to support these partitions that onefeature of our invention relates.

As previously constructed, the side walls of the boxes were made of thinboards, though the ends were thick, but both sides and ends were notchedto receive the partitions which are formed of thin strips, the notchesbeing necessary to support the ends of the strips and prevent them frombreak ing. But the side walls thus notched were found to be weakened toa considerable ex tent, so that the boxes were quickly broken anddestroyed, and an object of the present invention is to overcome thisdifficulty. In the present instance this has been accomplished by theprovision of a narrow but thick strip herein termed a sill, placed alongthe sides of the box near the bottom and set in so that the outsidesurfaces are flush, the ordinary thin material or even the thinnestmaterial being of sufficient strength and therefore used for the sideWalls above the sill.

The. sills, in order that their extra thickness may not reduce thecapacity of the box. are cupped at regular intervals to receive thesides of the bottles. and between the cups they are notched to receivethe ends of the partitions. The excessive thickness of the sill servesto give the necessary strength to this part of the side wall even thoughit is notched and cupped as described, and in this way the tendency toSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Serial No. 828,973.

break the sides because their strength is re duced by notching toreceive the partitions, is overcome, and at the same time material iseconomized both by the fact that it is unnecessary to increase thethickness of the main portion of the side walls and the fact thatnarrower boards than those previously used can be utilized for thesides, and also the fact that instead of using ordinary box material aspreviously, the sides above the strips can be made even thinner thanthey were made before.

The crates or boxes are not ordinarily thrown away after being usedonce, but are used again and again, and to be available must bethoroughly washed. For this purpose the side walls have been spaced upfrom the bottom, forming openings through which the wash-Water flows,and openings of this kind are a feature of the applicants box, but whilein the previous structures openings of the kind described were used, thepartitions or at least half of them. generally those extending at rightangles tothe apertured wall, extended down to the bottom of the box andthus obstructed the flow of the wash-water through the box, and anadvantage of the construction shown herein is that the partitions, boththose running across and lengthwise of the box. are supported well abovethe bottom, allowing a clear space for the flow of the wash-waterthrough the box so that it may be thoroughly washed and drained withoutdithculty. and at the same time. the structure is such that it is easyto remove and replace.

To form the necessary support for the ends of the partitions forming thebottle rack. the notches in the sills instead of extending from theupper to the lower surface, are terminated well short of the bottom,forming a convenient support for the rack which serves to hold it wellabo e the bottom, so that the box with the bottles therein can beconvenientlv washed by dredging with water either from above or throughthe openings beneath the sills. and the wash-water flows through the boxfreely in all directions and out at the sides.

Though the arrangement of my device with the closed notches in the sillswher by the partitions are supported in a position in which they arespaced above the b ttom of the box, is the preferred one and this isconsidered an important feature of the invention, the sill may be usedwith notches extending from the top to the bottom surface, and when thusconstructed, the partitions may be inserted from beneath before hebottom of the box is applied in accordance with the previous practice.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown the preferred embodiment of myinvention together with the modification just recited.

Figure 1 is a plan of the box. Fig. 2 is an elevation with the end wallbroken away above the partitions to show the ends of the sills and theend edges of the side walls above the sills. Fig. 3 is a side elevationwith a portion of the nearest side wall broken away to show thepartitions and a view of the opposite sill together with a section ofone end. Fig. i is a plan of a sill. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same.Figs. 6 and 7 are, respectively, a plan and elevation of a longitudinalpartition strip, the transverse partition strips being shown inelevation in Fig. 2; and Figs. 8 and 9 are, respectively, a plan andelevation of a sill with the notches running from top to bottom. 7 7

Referring to the drawings, the box consists of side walls 1, end walls2, a bottom 3 in the usual arrangement. The box shown is divided intotwenty-four chambers or cells 4 by means of longitudinal partitions 5and transverse partitions 6 formed of narrow strips of thin material,the tran verse strips 6 being seated at their ends in notches 7 to bedescribed and the longitudinal strips 5 being seated notches 8 in theend walls 2.

Connecting the end walls near the bottom but spaced therefromsufliciently to provide an opening for the wash water, are the sills 9.Above the sills the side walls of the box are formed of thin material 10which may be even less substantial than that ordinarily used in theconstruction of this portion of such boxes, and it may be either in theform of one wide piece or two or three narrow strips, whereas the entireside wall of the box is formed of thin material which must be notchednear the bottom to receive the partitions, the support of the upperportion is necessary to sustain the lower notched portion, and wider andmore expensive material must be used.

The sills 9 in the preferred form of the device, though it would notamount to invention to place them otherwise, are set flush with theoutside of the box, and to this end they are preferably rabbeted at theends at 11 but it is obvious that this joint may be made in various wayswithin the scope of the invention. As thus arranged the sill projectsinto the box and in order that it may not reduce the capaclty of thebox, it is preIerably cupped at regular lntervals at 12. Opposite eachadjacent cell l to receive the sides of the bottles and between thecupped portions, are the notches 7 which receive the ends of thetransverse partition strips 6. As the partitions are preferablysupported well above thebottom of the box so that the wash-water may notbe unimpeded either in flowing through the box or in escaping therefromto drain the box, the notches as shown in the preferred form of thedevice, are adapted to this end so that they extend downward from thetop of the sill but terminate a suflicient distance short of the bottomsurface of the sill to provide a substantial support for the partitions.In

this way I not only furnish a convenient and desirable means forsustainlng the partitions so that they do not impede the flow of thewash-water, but the same feature makes it possible to use narrow stripsfor the partitions, so that as to form a lateral support for the bottlesat their middle Zone, 6., on a horizontal line with thecenter ofgravity. They do not need lateral support at the bottom, and if thepartitions extend from the bottom suliiciently far up the height of thebottle to serve the purpose, comparatively wide strips are necessary anda considerable amount of material is wasted.

The manner of cutting and arranging the partitions is clearly shownherein. In the form illustrated the transverse partitions 6 are notchedto a depth equal to the width of the longitudinal partitions at regularintervals separatedby the width of the bottle cells desired and thelongitudinal partitions 5 are rabbeted from top to bottom to it thenotches and sit into them at right angles to the partitions 6 andextending from end to end, the longitudinal partitions being seated attheir ends in notches 8 in the end walls 2, and the transversepartitions in the notches 7 in the side walls 1 or more particularly inthe sills 9.

l/Vhfle I have described as the preferred form of my invention that inwhich the sills 9 have the notches to receive the transverse partitionsclosed at the bottom, so the rack is thus supported in a position inwhich it is spaced well above the floor of the box, I also find itadvisable to show that my sills may be utilized with notches 15 extending from top to bottom so that the side walls may be inserted frombeneath before the box bottom is applied. These modified sills areindicated by reference character 14, see Figs. 8 and 9, and the sillsthus shown do not differ otherwise than in thispar ticular or at leastthey do not differ im-. portantly, though I have found it desirable toshow these sills without the ends rabbet ed to indicate that the sillsmay be set into the end partitions instead of being themselves rabbetedif so desired.

The operation of the invention and the various advantages of thedifferent features of the structure have been pointed out in thepreamble and specification.

I have thus described specifically a preferred and secondary embodimentof my invention in order that the construction may be clearly understoodand those skilled in the art to be enabled to make and use it, and Whilein some instances I have resorted to the use of specific terms, I desireto have it understood that the specific terms herein are used in theirdescriptive rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of theinvention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. The combination in a wooden box or case for bottles having sides,ends and a bottle rack formed of longitudinal and transverse strips,thick sills extending from end to end of the box, the sills havingnotches to receive the ends of the transverse strips the rack and sillsbeing spaced well up from the bottom to form an opening at each side forthe wash-water, the sides above the sills being thin.

2. In combination in a wooden box or case for bottles having sides, endsand a bottle rack formed of longitudinal and transverse strips, thicksills extending from end to end of the box notched to receive thetransverse strips, the sills being spaced well up from the bottom toform openings for the wash-water and the notches terminating above thebottom of the sills to form supports for the rack which is made ofnarrow strips which as thus supported, are spaced up from the bottom.

3. In combination in a Wooden box or case for bottles having sides, endsand a bottle rack formed of longitudinal and transverse strips, thicksills extending from end to end of the box notched to receive thetransverse strips and cupped between the notches to receive the sides ofthe adjacent bottles, the sills being spaced well up from the bottom toform openings for the washwater and the notches terminating above thebottom of the sills to form supports for the rack which is made ofnarrow strips which as thus supported, are spaced up from the bottom,the side walls above the sills being of thin material.

Signed bv me at Baltimore this 1st day of April, 1914.

EDWARD H. N. CLARKSON.

Witnesses:

JAMES F. TURNER, ZELLA KUHN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

